FROM GRANADA TO GIBRALTAR
These are held at night, and closely rival,
and, at least in solemnity and religious
decorum, possibly surpass, even those of
Seville (see page 210).
The streets are darkened, no vehicle is
allowed to circulate, the women are in
black mantillas, and there is an awe-in
spiring hush, as the dense crowd patiently
awaits the spectacle.
A blare of trumpets is heard, a van
guard of the Guardia Civil, on superb
horses, slowly rounds the corner, fol
lowed by two lines of weird "penitents,"
each carrying a candle torch.
These two lines of bobbing lights add
mystery to the scene. The penitents of
each brotherhood are dressed in some
distinct uniform, such as tall, tapering,
conelike caps, with two holes for the eyes,
extending down to cover the face, and the
figure hidden in a long gown of white
(see page 211).
Then a blaze of light slowly comes into
view.
A marvelous image, carved in
wood, shining with gold, silver, and
costly gems, is borne along on a platform,
upon the shoulders of other penitents.
Some of the images are so large and
heavy that Ioo men are required to carry
them.
These processions date from the fif
teenth and sixteenth centuries and were
started by religious brotherhoods, who
undertook to safeguard images in various
churches. Thus to-day each church has
its famous Virgen or Cristo, and in Holy
Week it is carried through the streets in
solemn procession, the most solemn tak
ing place on Friday, representing the
funeral of Christ, and is held at midnight.
Spectators, wrought up to uncontrolla
ble fervor and with tears streaming from
their eyes, cry out heart-rending saetas,
as the procession passes.
TRAFFIC IN TIHE STREETS OF MALAGA
Aside from the Calle de Larios, Ma
laga's other business streets are narrow
and winding, and many of them are none
too clean. They are crowded with Anda
lusian types: servant girls with market
baskets on their arms, porters carrying
anything from a trunk to a wardrobe on
their backs, farmers in straight-brimmed,
tall felt hats, girls in bright shawls, with
the invariable flower in their hair, on the
way to work in the almond and raisin
stores.
Then there are milkmen leading herds
of goats about the streets and generally
appropriating the sidewalks for their own
exclusive use. The donkey is the chief
beast of burden, and the farmer loads the
poor animal to the staggering-point and
then climbs on himself.
I was once on a street-car going through
the Calle de Granada, which is so narrow
in parts that one must get into a doorway
to let the car pass, when we stopped with
a jerk. The motorman's arms began an
imitation of an agitated semaphore, and
he proceeded to shout all the words in the
dictionary at some object in front.
I looked out and saw, in the midst of
a gathering crowd, a large and well-laden
donkey, in the exact middle of the track.
His master was hitting him furiously
with a stick. This treatment being with
out result, the farmer got behind, put his
shoulder to the hip, and pushed; but the
donkey only braced himself more firmly
on his tracks. Finally, the motorman, the
conductor, and one of the passengers also
put their shoulders to the task and the
obstruction was removed from the right
of way.
As we passed, however, the animal held
up his head and brayed at us in derision.
THE ANDALUSIAN LABORER A MAN OF
GREAT STRENGTH
Compared with American standards,
the Andalusian workman is undersized,
but amazingly strong. He thinks nothing
of carrying from his cart into a ware
house sack after sack of flour, each
weighing 220 pounds.
In one of the almond stores the weigh
ing scales are on the first floor, so that all
merchandise must be carried up a sloping
ramp from the street. In this store were
two peones, rivals for the title of being
the strongest in the employ of the firm.
One day a farmer arrived on a mule
with a bag of almonds, and the first peon,
seeking to prove his prowess, went down
the ramp and presently appeared again
with the bag of almonds on one shoulder
and the farmer on the other.
But the second peon, not to be outdone,
immediately ran down the ramp, and a
moment later came staggering up again,
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